Snip
by Bella1951
Summary: Nearly nine-year-old Bellatrix Black has been wronged, and now she will have her revenge. Ooh, this will teach Cissy not to lie!


**A/N: This is the first story that I have ever published, so please be kind. Oh, and I'm not J.K. Rowling. **

Snip

Bellatrix Black lay silently under the covers. She did not kick her feet. She did not rustle the sheets. She was waiting.

It was almost completely dark in the room, save for the yellow glow from the nightlight. At nearly nine years old, Bellatrix insisted to her mother and the house elves that she was too old for the nightlight, a jar filled with fairies. But her parents didn't need to know that every night after she was tucked in, Bellatrix would hurry and take the jar from the closet. The light from the imprisoned fairies kept the monsters away, and she wouldn't have been without it for anything.

On this particular night, Bellatrix had to stay awake. She would have vengeance! She wasn't entirely sure what vengeance meant, but it sounded right. Tonight, she would pay Cissy back for her crimes. As Bellatrix waited for her parents to go to bed, she thought back on the cause of her late night vigil.

It had all started innocently enough. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa had been sitting in the kitchen having their tea. As a special treat, Mother had let the girls use her priceless, goblin made plates. Bellatrix was being very careful, and so was Andromeda. They both knew that goblin made artefacts were irreplaceable.

Five-year-old Cissy wasn't so wise. The plates were just plates to her, albeit very pretty ones. So she wasn't being careful at all when she grabbed the cookie platter.

Bella and Anna had gone silent as the plate slipped through Cissy's chubby fingers. The plate seemed to fall in slow motion. Bella had lunged for it, but it crashed to the floor before she could catch it.

Silver decorations flew in all directions. Although the plate remained intact, all of the intricate pieces of silver that made it special broke off.

At the sound of the crash, Mother had run to the kitchen. She immediately turned to Bellatrix, still hunched over the plate. Cissy started to cry. And then she smiled nastily at Bellatrix.

"Bella did it," she whimpered piteously.

Lying in bed, Bellatrix stiffened with anger. It wasn't fair that she had been blamed! How she would have loved to wring Cissy's scrawny little neck! But she had to wait. She would get her revenge. All good things come to those who can wait, she thought, smiling grimly.

The big grandfather clock struck eleven. Bella remained in bed until she heard her parents' door shut. She waited a little longer, until she heard the bedsprings squeak twice. Soon, her father's loud, rumbling snores spilled out into the hallway.

Bellatrix quietly got up. She tiptoed across her room to the bureau. Slowly, carefully, she inched the drawer open. She explored the drawer for a minute before her wandering hands rested on cold metal.

Smiling, Bellatrix pulled out her mother's brand new embroidery scissors. She opened them, and then closed them. They made a lovely metallic click as they shut. Bellatrix grinned. Ooh, this would teach Cissy not to lie!

Silently, Bellatrix padded down the dark hallway. Luckily, the portraits were all asleep at this hour, so they wouldn't give her away. She looked ghostly in the hall mirror as she passed, with her long hair and floor length nightdress.

At last, she reached Narcissa's room. Luckily, the door was partly open, so she wouldn't have to worry about it creaking. Bellatrix slipped inside. Squinting, she could just make out Cissy's form in the bed.

Cissy looked like a baby angel, lying there. Her long, silky blonde hair was fanned out on the pillow and her delicate features were serene. Bellatrix drew closer to the bed. Narcissa had such beautiful hair...

With a wicked grin, she gently fingered a long lock of hair. "Cissy's best feature," her mother always called it. _Not for long!_ Bellatrix whispered to herself.

Taking a deep breath, Bellatrix brought the scissors to Cissy's hair. She opened them wide and snapped them shut.

_Snip._

Bellatrix gulped as she stared at the strand of Cissy's hair in the palm of her hand. Heart beating fast, she let it flutter to the floor. She bared the scissors again, and cut. Another strand of hair fell to the floor, entwined with the first.

The blades flashed as Bellatrix worked, snipping and clicking merrily.

_Snip, snip, snip. _

_Why is Cissy always right?_

_Snip, snip._

_Why does Mother always believe _her?

_Snip, snip, snip._

_Why am I always the one who gets in trouble?_

_Snip!_

_Why?_

_Snip!_

Bellatrix looked down at her sister with satisfaction. Narcissa no longer looked like a baby angel. She looked more like a lamb that had been sheared by a drunken farmhand.

Under her left ear, Cissy had shoulder length hair. Under her right ear, she had about an inch of blonde fluff. The back of her head had been left untouched, as Bellatrix hadn't been able to reach it. Her fringe had been crookedly chopped off. The top of her head was nearly bald, save for a few pieces of hair that were rather reminiscent of dandelion seeds.

Bellatrix looked down at her handiwork with pride. Then she gently pushed the scissors under Narcissa's mattress and tiptoed out the door.

Once she was safely huddled under her own covers with the door tightly shut, Bellatrix allowed herself a quiet laughing fit. Then, she closed her eyes and fell into a blissful sleep, full of dreams of what Narcissa would say in the morning.

**So, I hope you enjoyed it and please review!**


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